Buoyed by the success of the “UP Declaration” programme, UPCC president Raj Babbar on Saturday said that Congress was poised for a comeback in the state in the 2017 assembly polls.

“Despite the inclement weather, Congressmen made a success of the interactive programme with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi sending a strong message in the state that the party was making a comeback to power,” Babbar said. The newly-appointed UPCC president, who took part in the first meeting of election campaign committee, said that only Congress can improve the situation in Uttar Pradesh which has been “bad” for the past 27 years.

At the party meeting on Saturday, election campaign committee head Sanjay Singh directed all divisional in-charges to constitute an 11-member campaign committee in all districts falling in their divisions by August 10 and Vidhan Sabha level campaign committees by August 30.

On Friday, during an interactive session with party members in Lucknow, Vice President Rahul Gandhi said, “We are contesting the election to get complete majority in the Assembly and have our own chief minister.You know what has happened in the last 27 years when different parties have only divided the state. We will have an alliance (only) with the Congress workers and every citizen of the state.” Gandhi also said the party wants to give more representation to women and youth when it comes to allotment of tickets for the state polls.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who was roped in by Congress to revive its floundering fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, had earlier suggested that the party should reach out to Brahmins in the run-up to the 2017 election and that a Brahmin face be projected to represent the party in elections.